Outside the Frame: Dusty, difficult rescue in Afghanistan

U.S. Marines run through dust kicked up by a Black Hawk helicopter from Task Force Lift "Dust Off", Charlie Company 1-214 Aviation Regiment as they rush a colleague wounded in an IED strike for evacuation near Sangin, in the volatile Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, May 10, 2011.

Kevin Frayer / AP

U.S. Army flight crew chief SPC. Jenny Martinez holds her weapon as she secures the landing zone.

AP's Kevin Frayer writes:The unit I’m embedded with in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, went out today to pick up a Marine wounded by an IED, and the pilots had to land the Black Hawk helicopter in an incredibly difficult place: a courtyard barely big enough to fit the huge machine. It was a tough landing, but they skillfully set it down. The rotors kicked up a huge amount of dust, creating nearly white-out conditions. At first I couldn’t see anything and the medics on board were having trouble finding the patient. Then, out of the thick dust, I saw Marines carrying their colleague toward me on a stretcher. Moments later, we lifted off from the makeshift helipad and took the injured Marine to a hospital.